Metta World Peace and Kobe Bryant Once Held a Rap Cypher in a Hotel Room

As Kobe Bryant concludes his final season in the NBA, discussion of his legacy and league impact continues, with an unexpected tidbit coming from Bryant's former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Metta World Peace, the player formerly known as Ron Artest. In an interview with LA Weekly's Jeff Weiss, the Queensbridge native says that he and Kobe once exchanged bars in a hotel room rap session.

In the piece, Weiss writes of Metta, "He hopes to tour after the Lakers' season finishes in April, marking the last games of Kobe Bryant's career. It's unlikely that the championship duo will ever collaborate, but Metta remembers when the Mamba visited his hotel room to spit lyrics that he'd just jotted down — which became a never-recorded cypher session." MWP is then quoted, saying, “He liked one of my songs, so he came to my room and we flowed. He's so much better than me … so good with words. He ought to write a movie.”

World Peace has released some of his raps in a formal manner, with his most recent album Streets & Ball having dropped at the top of March. Of his skills, he says, “I’m not a ‘real rapper’; I just like to talk about what I’ve been through. When I was younger, I just said random, stupid lyrics and censored myself because I was worried about what people would think. But now I’ve become more mature with my words and uncensored.”

Read the full Metta World Peace profile over at LA Weekly.

See 40 Hip-Hop Albums Turning 20 in 2016